The Open Lighting Architecture (OLA) is part of the Open Lighting Project and provides applications with a mechanism to send and receive DMX512 & RDM commands using hardware devices and DMX over IP protocols. This enables software lighting controllers to communicate with hardware either via Ethernet or traditional DMX512 networks.

OLA can also convert DMX512 data sent using DMX over IP protocols from one format to another, allowing devices from different manufacturers to interact with one another. For example a Strand Lighting Console using ShowNet can send DMX512 to an EnttecEtherGate. When combined with a physical DMX interface such as the DMX USB Pro, OLA can send and receive data from wired DMX512 networks.